Chrysalis
by foobar137
Summary: Phineas has asked to come visit for the first night of Hanukkah, and Isabella isn't sure why. Maybe something good will come out of this? Trope bingo: holidayfic.


**Many, many thanks to Hysteria Rogers for being my beta. Any mistakes are mine, not hers.**

**Trope bingo: holidayfic**

* * *

Isabella fidgeted, waiting for Phineas to arrive. He'd asked to come over for the first night of Hanukkah, and maybe...just maybe...he'd announce his undying love for her, and carry her off to an awaiting carriage so they could be married...

She shook her head, snapping out of Phineasland. She'd been trying so hard not to do that. She was fourteen years old now, and that sort of fantasy wasn't appropriate for her any more. She was a teenager now, not a little girl. She needed to deal with Phineas realistically. He was a good friend. A very good friend. A very, very good friend that she wanted to hug and kiss and cuddle with and...

She sighed. It was so _hard_ to deal with this. She didn't even know if he liked her like that. She kind of suspected that he did, but couldn't really tell for sure. She'd tried asking Ferb, who'd just smiled enigmatically. Candace had shrugged and said she didn't really know.

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," she said to her mother, still working in the kitchen, and she dashed to the door, flinging it open.

Phineas stood there, dressed up in slacks and a tie, holding a couple small packages wrapped in blue paper covered in snowmen. He'd caught up with her in height in the past few months, so she was looking right across at his brilliant blue eyes. "Hi, Isabella. Happy Hanukkah," he said, and if she didn't know better she'd swear he was nervous. That was silly. Phineas Flynn was never nervous.

"Happy Hanukkah, Phineas. Won't you come in?" she asked.

"Sorry about the wrapping paper," he said as he entered the living room. "It was the only one I could find that wasn't Christmas trees or Santa."

"It's fine," she said. "Thank you for coming. It really means a lot to me."

Her mother came in from the kitchen, wiping her hands off on a towel. "Welcome, Phineas! Look at you! That outfit makes you look so grown up! You've gotten so big! I remember when you didn't even have braces yet!"

Isabella shook her head. _That was last month, Mom_, she thought. Phineas smiled, embarrassed, and she saw the flash of silver from his mouth. "Thank you, Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro. I...um, brought you this," he said, holding out the larger of the two packages.

"Oh, thank you, Phineas," her mother said, taking the box and setting it on the table near the menorah, next to the other presents already waiting there. "Is the other one for Isa?" she asked slyly, and he nodded. "Why don't you put it on the table with the other ones, then?"

He did so, as her mother asked, "So why did you want to come celebrate Hanukkah with us? Isa didn't say."

"Well," he began, looking nervous again, and seeming to choose his words very carefully. "Isabella's...my...best friend, and something this important to her...I want to be a part...I want to see what it's all about." _Why is he nervous?_

"Do you know what Hanukkah is about?" her mother asked, and he shook his head.

Her mother began, "So, over two thousand years ago, the Jews retook Jerusalem from the Greeks, and went to rededicate the Great Temple there. It had been turned into a temple to Zeus and defiled. As they were resanctifying the temple, they found one unspoiled container of holy oil; it would take eight days to make more, but the container would only last one night.

"But the Lord performed a great miracle, and the oil lasted for all the eight nights, allowing them to resanctify the temple. And so we celebrate with lights for eight nights, to remember the miracle that was done."

Phineas nodded his head. "That's...pretty cool! Isabella, you said it's really important to you personally; why?"

Isabella gave him a sad smile. "It's the last memory I have of my father. He died just after Hanukkah when I was six."

"Just before you moved here. I remember you telling me about him."

She nodded. "So this has always been my last connection to him. It's important to me to keep it alive."

"So how does this work?" Phineas asked.

"We start with lighting the candles," her mother said. "Isa? Would you like to?"

"Sure, mama," Isabella replied, taking the lighter her mother extended to her. She'd practiced this, hoping she could get it right in front of Phineas, and the lighter caught on the second try. She lit the shammus candle, in the center of the menorah, then handed the lighter to her mother. She then removed the shammus candle from its holder, and joined her mother in singing the Hanukkah prayers:

"_Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam, she'heheyanu v'kiy'manu v'higi'anu la'z'man ha'ze_," they sang_._ She only stumbled once, and hoped Phineas hadn't noticed. She glanced over at him in the candlelight; he looked enthralled at the prayer.

"Blessed is the Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season," her mother translated for Phineas.

They started on the second prayer. "_Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Hanukkah,_" they sang.

"Blessed is the Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Hanukkah," her mother translated. Phineas's eyes sparkled in the candlelight, and she had to quickly look away before she forgot the third prayer entirely.

_Okay. Just one more to get right,_ she thought. "_Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam, she'asa nisim la'avoteinu ba'yamim ha'heim ba'z'man ha'ze_," they sang.

Her mother smiled, and translated, "Blessed is the Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, Who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this very time."

Isabella held the flame of the shammus candle to the rightmost candle on the menorah. As it lit, her mother started singing the Ma'oz Tzur. Isabella returned the shammus candle to the menorah and turned to listen to the song.

Isabella always loved this part, even if it made her a little sad because she remembered her father singing this with her mother. From the look on Phineas's face he was similarly entranced. As the song came to an end, he smiled brightly. "That's beautiful. I never knew."

"Thank you," her mother said. "Now, traditionally, Hanukkah wasn't a gift-giving holiday, but because it's so close to Christmas, we do some small gifts. Oh, look, there's one for you as well, Phineas. Isa, it looks like there's two presents there for you, why don't you open one first?"

Isabella took the gift from her mother and tore the paper off; underneath was a small box containing a blue hair bow with silver trim and a small bag of chocolate Hanukkah gelt.

"Coins?" Phineas asked, confused.

"Hanukkah gelt. Chocolate coins. They get used for...you'll see, later," Isabella said, smiling. "Why don't you open yours next, Mama?"

Vivian took the box and smiled at the snowman print on it. "That's lovely. Thank you, Phineas." She carefully loosened the tape and slid the box out the side of the wrapping paper, folding up the wrapping paper for reuse. Isabella rolled her eyes at the habit.

Opening the box, she pulled out two blue towels, embroidered with silvery thread. One was marked with a script 'V', the other with an 'I'. "Oh, these are lovely," her mother said. "Thank you very much, Phineas."

"My mother helped pick them out," he admitted.

"I guessed as much. Phineas, why don't you open yours next?" her mother said.

Phineas took the box and, carefully removing the paper, pulled out a small box. Inside, he found a book, a dreidel, and a small bag of gelt. He pulled the book out first; it was a basic book on Judaism for Gentiles.

"That's the latest version of the book my mother-in-law bought me when I started dating Isa's father," Vivian said, and Isabella winced. _Mama! Don't push so hard! You'll scare him off!_

Phineas didn't seem to catch the implication, but instead picked up the dreidel. "It's a top?" he asked.

"It's for a game, with the gelt," Isabella said. "You'll see."

"Last present is yours, Isa," Vivian said. Isabella tore off the paper and opened the small box. Inside was a silvery necklace with a crystal pendant that looked like a chrysalis, with silver wound around it. It glittered in the candlelight, showing a rainbow of colors deep inside the crystal.

"Oh, it's beautiful," she said, looking up at Phineas who suddenly looked nervous again. "Thank you! Will you help me put it on?"

He stood behind her, close enough that she could feel his warm breath on her neck, as he fastened the necklace. She held it out to look at it.

"It's lovely, Isa," her mother said. "Why don't you show Phineas how to play with the dreidel while I finish up dinner?"

"Sure, Mama!"

* * *

Phineas followed Isabella over to the coffee table in the living room, carrying his box. She'd been growing up the past couple years, turning into a gangly teenager. She was wearing a long blue dress, and the hem swished around her calves as she walked along.

He knew she wanted him to be more than just friends, but...well, that was most of why he was here tonight. She sat on the floor next to the table, and he sat across from her.

"Okay, so if you look at the dreidel, there's four markings," she said, turning it over and showing him. "_Nun_, _gimel_, _hei_, and _shin_. I forget the Hebrew, but it's an acronym for 'A great miracle happened there.'"

"Okay," Phineas said, tracing the symbols on the sides of the dreidel.

"So, here's how you play. Everybody puts in a coin," and Isabella put one of the chocolate coins on the table. Phineas found the bag of coins in his box and put one of his coins next to hers.

"And then you spin the top, and each side means something different. _Nun_ means that nothing happens and you pass the turn. _Gimel_ means you win the pot. _Hei_ means you win half the pot. And _shin_ means you put in a coin. Like this," she said, spinning the top. It fell with the _shin_ side up, and Isabella said, "Awww," as she added a coin to the pile.

Phineas spun the top as well, and it came up on...one of the four marks. He was still having trouble remembering which was which. "Which is that?" he asked.

"That's _nun_. Nothing happens. My turn."

Phineas took a deep breath and steeled himself. _It's time._ He reached over and took her hand, feeling her slightly cold fingers as he prevented her from spinning again. Looking around and making sure her mother was in the kitchen he said, "Wait. I need to tell you about the rest of your present."

She gave him an inquisitive look. "Did I miss something else in the box?"

Smiling, he shook his head. "It isn't in the box. It's a promise." Taking a deep breath, he said, "I know you want me to be more than just friends with you."

Isabella looked shocked, and concerned, just as Ferb had predicted. He'd talked to Ferb about his feelings for Isabella for months - years, even - trying to figure out just how he felt about her. Finally, with Ferb's help, he'd realized what he wanted, and what he needed to do. He couldn't leave her hanging any more.

He gently squeezed her hand. "My mom says she doesn't want me dating until I'm fifteen," he continued, his eyes on her. "And...I agree with her. I can feel that I'm not quite ready yet. I watch Candace and Jeremy, and I see what they have, and I want that...later. Soon. But not yet."

Isabella was staring at him now, her eyes starting to tear up. The last thing he ever wanted was to make her sad, and he hoped the rest of his promise would make her happy again.

"So...think of my feelings as not fully developed yet. Like a chrysalis." He reached over and touched her necklace. "And when they come out...I promise you're the one I want to have those feelings with."

"Me?" she squeaked.

"You. I don't want to ask you to wait for me, because that's not fair to you. But...this summer, when Mom says I can have a girlfriend...if you're still available, you're who I'd like it to be."

A smile spread across her face, and she scooted around the table to give him a hug. Her arms were warm around him as she pressed her face into his neck. "Thank you," she whispered. "It's been so hard, not knowing. Thank you for letting me know." She looked up at him, and he found himself staring into her blue eyes, completely lost in the moment, and thinking that half a year was going to feel like _forever_.

She started as if hearing something, then quickly slid back to where she'd been sitting just as her mother entered the room, saying, "Latkes are ready! Come get some!"

She took his hand again as they stood, pulling him toward the dining room. "The most important part. It's a traditional Jewish holiday - we fought, we won, let's eat."

* * *

Isabella watched out the living room window as Phineas walked back across the dark street. Her hand brushed the necklace, and she smiled.

"That's a lovely necklace he gave you. Maybe he thinks you'll be the beautiful butterfly when you get older?" her mother asked slyly.

She grinned at her mother. "Something like that."

Out the window, she saw him turn and look at her before he went into his house.

_Butterflies. He always gives me butterflies._


End file.
